IT’S very difficult to take the desert dust-up between Tyson Fury and MMA star Francis Ngannou seriously.
Because the Rumble in Riyadh a week tomorrow is a fake fight and simply a giant version of the Letdown in Las Vegas from seven years ago.
GettyTyson Fury and Francis Ngannou face off in Saudi Arabia next week[/caption]
That was when gullible punters on both sides of the Atlantic were led to believe Floyd Mayweather Jr – the greatest boxer of his generation – was in mortal danger when faced with Ireland’s Cage King, Conor McGregor.
They fell head-over-heels for the outrageous hype, which led to that mismatch becoming boxing’s second-biggest pay-per-view event.
It became known as The Money fight. Floyd lined his pockets with £230million while Conor had to put up with his paltry share of £105m.
Neither could wipe the smile off their faces for months.
Nearly a million British fans paid £19.95 to watch it, and what did they get for their investment?
Seeing Mayweather carry the outclassed McGregor before putting an end to the bombastic Irishman and the dreary proceedings in the tenth.
The publicity machine in Saudi will be going full-blast next week attempting to persuade us WBC world heavyweight champion Fury is under serious threat. They certainly have a hard sell.
When it comes to the Queensberry rules, 37- year-old Ngannou is an unknown non-entity who has been out of his cage for two years. In fact, he’s been in action only twice in the last 3½ years.
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AFPNgannou has been training with boxing legend Mike Tyson[/caption]
Mike Tyson has been drafted in to show him the rudiments of the noble art. He is doing his bit, claiming that the Cameroonian boasts fearsome punching power that can flatten Fury.
It’s just not feasible that Ngannou is going to outsmart master boxer Fury, or do what Deontay Wilder couldn’t do in three fights and KO him.
But then the one-time Baddest Man on the Planet admitted that if Ngannou should win, it would be a bigger upset than when Buster Douglas knocked him out and took his world title in Tokyo 33 years ago.
Fury’s team are not in the least bit fearful he is going to come to any harm because they have already announced he and Oleksandr Usyk, 36, have signed to have their unification fight in December or January.
Fury is by far Britain’s most popular champion but I’m afraid he has lost a lot of credibility by becoming involved in what is nothing more than a way to make easy money.
Some fans feel he is demeaning his world championship status and it will be interesting – with the Mayweather-McGregor charade in mind – how many will be suckered into paying TNT £21.95 to watch.
TYSON FURY VS FRANCIS NGANNOU: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE CROSSOVER CLASH
Even Muhammad Ali and George Foreman were involved in freak shows in the 1970s – though it was after they’d lost their world titles.
Foreman took part in an unsavoury stunt when he took on five much smaller men in one night in Toronto and beat them all – three by KO.
And Ali humiliated himself by going to Tokyo to take on Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki, who spent 15 rounds on the canvas kicking The Greatest’s legs.
Whether it turns out to be an Arabian night to remember, or one to forget, Fury was made a Saudi offer he couldn’t refuse – a crazy £34.5m to nobble Ngannou.
That should keep the Lancashire lad’s seven kids in Morecambe rock for some time.
ReutersTyson Fury is already in Riyadh ahead of the highly anticipated bout[/caption]